Vehicle-top.



PATENTBD MAR. 24,1903.

J. H. SPRAGUB.

VEHICLE TOP.

APPLICATION FILED MAB. 5, 1902.

No lMODEL.

'mi vlonnls versus co. wow-Unio.. wsnwm'nn. n. 'ci

UNITED STATES- PATENT *i OFFICE.

JAMES H. SPRAGUE, OF NORWALK, OHIO.

VEHICLE-TO P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 723,749, dated March24, 1903.

- Application sie@ March 5,1902

To all whom it'. may concern: Y

Be it known thatIfJAMEs HISPRAGUE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Norwalk, in the county of Huron and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and useful Vehicle-Top, of which the following is aspecication.

Thisinventionrelates to a novel vehicle canopy or top designed forattachment to a vehicle-seat to protect the occu pants thereof.

The object of the invention is to 4produce a simple and inexpensivethree-bow top arranged to be quickly attached to and detached from theseat-irons and including a two-bow canopy-frame tiltably supported by asingle upright bow and capable of being set at diffe rent angles toproperly position the canopy for the protection of the occupants of ,theseat.

To the accomplishment of this object and others subordinate thereto thepreferred embodiment of the invention comprehends that construction andarrangement of parts to be hereinafter described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and succinctly defined in the appended claims. f

In said drawings, Figure l is al perspective view of the vehicle-top,illustrating the manner of its application to the vehicle-seat. Fig. 2isa detail sectional view of one of the pivotal connections between thecover-frame and the supporting-bow. Fig. 3 is a detail view, partly insection, of one of said pivotal connections and showingthe cover-frametilted in dotted lines. Fig. 4 isa sectional view through one of theseat-irons and the lower end of one side of the supporting-bow, thepurpose being to illustrate the mode of connecting these parts; and Fig.5 isa perspective vie'w of a seat-iron, its supporting-brackets, and aportion of the supporting-bow.

Like numerals are employed to designate v corresponding partsthrong-hout the views.

. To the opposite sides ofthe seat 1 of the vehicle are attached, in amanner to be -described, a pair of seat-irons 2, which detachablyVreceive the lower ends of the supporting-bow 3 flinverted- U shape. Thesupporting-bow is of sufficient height for the support of an overheadcanopy or cover 4, distended by a substantially rectangular coverframe5, tiltably connected to the opposite sides of the bow 3. Thecover-frame 5 is com- Serial No. 96,833. (No model.)

posed of a'pair of bows t' and '7, disposed with their ends opposed toeach other, but separated by suiiicient intervals to accommodate thevertical sides of the bow3, which are interposed between the ends .ofthe bowsvG and 7. (See Fig. 2.) The ends of the cover-frame bows 6 and'7 are connected by straps or plates 8, through which pass headed bolts9; bolts, which are disposed horizontallyin axial alinement, constituteswivel-supports for the cover-frame land are passed through theopposite'sides of the bow 3, their inner ends being threaded, as shown,for the reception of These the hand-wheels 10, which constitute burs vany desired angle by the occupant of the seat.`

As this retention of the cover-frame or top proper is merelyfric'tional, however, I prefer to insure the proper retention of theframe by the provision of a rack 13, pivoted at one end to the frame-as,for instance, to the bow 7 and designed to engage a stud or pin 14,projecting from one side of the bow 3 at a point below the frame 5.tilted one or the other of the notches of the rack 13 will engage thestud 14, and the cover will be held rigidly, even though the handwheels10 have not been screwed tight. lt should Ibe noted at this point thatthe connecting straps or plates 8 serve the dual function of connectionsfor the inner ends of the bows and 7 and bearing members for the bolts9, upon which the top frame is swiveled; also, that the inner ends ofthe bows 6 and 7 are sufliciently spaced from the adjacent edges of thebow 3 to permit the tilting of the cover-frame, but are sufficientlynear saidV edges to constitute shoulders which by contacting with thebow 3 will serve to limit the tilting of the cover-frame in either aforward or backward direction. It will therefore be understood that inone aspect of my invention the cover-frame might be made in a singlecontinuous piece, having suitable swivel As the cover-frame is IOOconnection with the supporting-bow 3 and arranged to be limited in itstilting movement bysuitable retaining means--as, for instance, opposedstop-shoulders. The construction shown is considered preferable,however, because it is inexpensive, durable, and eiiicient.

Ve now come to consider the construction ot' the seat-irons 2 and themeans whereby the detachable connection of the lower ends of thesupporting-bow with said seat-irons is elected. 'lhe irons 2, which havethe general form of flat plates, are provided at their lower ends withtrunnions l5, which engage bearing-sockets 16, formed at the upper endsof straps 17, bolted or otherwise secured to the opposite sides or endsot' the seat l. The bearing-sockets 16 are somewhat olset from thestraps, as shown, in order that when the vehicle-top is detached theseat-irons 2 may be swung down out of the way, as indicated by dottedlines in Fig. 1L. Normally, however, the irons 2 are disposed in anupright position and are provided upon their inner faces with sockets1S, defined by a bottom ledge 1S), upon which the lower end of the bowrests, and side anges 20 and 2l, received within channels 22 and 23,formed in the opposite edges of the bow 3 for the reception ot' saidflanges. This construction lends great rigidity to the connection of thebow with the seat-irons and prevents splitting of the ends of the bow inan obvious manner. For greater securit-y headed bolts 24 are passedthrough the lower ends of the bow 3 and through open-ended slots 25 inthe seatirons 2. The outer ends of the bolts are threaded, as indicatedin Fig. 4, for the reception of' handwheels o1' burs 26, which whenscrewed up serve to clamp the ends of the bow 3 to the seat-irons forthe purpose of preventing accidental disconnection ofthe parts. As theupper ends of the slots 25 are open, however, it will be seen that inorder to remove the top or canopy from the vehicleseat it is simplynecessary to loosen the handwheels 26 and lift the vehicle-top away fromthe seat-irons, after which said irons will swing down to unobtrusivepositions until it is desired to again attach the top or canopy to theseat. In this latter event it is simply necessary to swing theseat-irons to their upright positions, pass the lower ends of the bow 3into the sockets 18, and screw up the wheels 26. When this is done, thetop frame is tilted to the desired angle and is retained by the rack 13,and all rattling and vibration ofthe parts is prevented by screwing upthe hand-wheels 10 sufticiently to prevent lost motion in the connectionbetween the top frame and the supporting-bow.

It will be observed from the foregoing that I have produced a simple,inexpensive, durable, and highly-elcent vehicle top or canopy; but whilethe present embodiment of the invention is thought at this time to bepreferable I do not wish to limit myself to the structural detailsdefined, as it is evident that many changes, modifications, andvariations of the illustrated structure may be el.- fected withoutdeparting from the scope of the protection prayed.

What I claim is- 1. A vehicle-top comprising a single supporting-bow, arigid cover-frame tiltably supported intermediate of its ends by theopposite sides of the bow, below the cross-bar at the top of said bow,whereby said bar serves as a stretcher for the cover when applied, andvmeans for securing the cover-frame in its adjusted positions.

2. A vehicle-top comprising a supportingbow, a rigid cover-frametiltably supported intermediate of its ends by the opposite sides of thebow, means for securing the coverframe iu its adjusted positions, and acover secured to the cover-frame and arranged to be stretched taut bythetop of thesupportingbow.

3. A vehicle-top comprising a supportingbow, a rigid cover-frametiltably supported by the supporting-bow and having shoulders arrangedto abut against the bow to limit the tilting of the frame, and means forrctaining the cover-frame in intermediate positions.

4. A vehicle-top comprising a supportingbow, a rigid cover-frametiltably mounted t thereon, one of said elements being provided with aprojection, and a rack carried by the other ot' said elements andarranged to engage the projection to retain the cover-frame in itsadjusted positions.

5. A vehicle-top comprising a single supporting-bow, a rigid cover-frametiltablysupported inter-mediate of its ends by the opposite sides of thebow, a cover secured to the cover-frame and arranged to be stretchedtaut by the top of the supporting-bow, bolts passed through the oppositesides of the coverframe and bow, and handwheels screwed upon the boltsand arranged to clamp the cover-frame rigidly to the sides of the bow toretain said frame in its adjusted positions.

6. A three-bow vehicle-top comprising a supporting-bow, a cover-framecomposed of a pair of bows disposed at opposite sides of thesupporting-bow, plates connecting the opposed ends of the bows of thecover-frame, and a pivotal connection between the connecting-plates andthe opposite sides of the supporting-bow.

7. A three-bow vehicle-top comprising a supporting-bow, a cover-framecomposed of a pair of bows having their opposed ends connected andspaced from the opposite edges of the supporting-bow to constituteshoulders arranged to abut against the supporting-bow afterpredetermined tilting movement of the cover-frame, and means for eectinga pivotal connection between the cover-frame and supporting-bow.

8. A three-bow vehicle-top comprising a cover-frame composed of a pairof bows and IUD plates connecting the opposed ends of, the bows, asupporting-bow having its opposite sides interposed between the ends ofthe coverbows, bolts passed through the opposite sides of thesupporting-bow and through the connecting-plates of the cover-frame, andhandwheels screwed up'on the inner ends of said bolts and arranged toretain the cover-frame and supporting-bow in frictional engagement toprevent accidental tilting of the frame, the ends'of the cover-bowsbeing spaced from the adjacent edges of the supporting-bow to permitlimited tilting of the frame.

9. A three-bow vehicle-top comprising a cover-frame composed of a pairof cover-bows, having their opposed ends spaced apart, andconnecting-plates rigidly connecting the opposed ends of said bows, asupporting-bow extended above the cover-frame and having its oppositesides interposed between the ends of the cover-bows, bolts passedthrough the conmeeting-plates of the cover-frame and the sides of thesupporting bow, hand-wheels screwed upon the inner ends of said bolts, aprojection on the supporting-bow, a swinging rack carried by thecover-frame and engaging said projection to sustain the frame in its adjusted positions, and a iiexible cover secured at its edges to thecover-frame and distended by the upper portion of the supporting-bow.

l0. The combination with a vehicle-top cornprising a supporting-bow anda rigid coverframe tiltably mounted intermediate of its ends thereon, ofpivotally-lnounted seat-irons A provided with sockets for the receptionof the lower ends of the supporting-bow, and means for effecting adetachable connection between the su pportin g-bow and seatirons,saidmeans being disposed t'o draw the lower ends of the supporting-bow intothe sockets of the irons.'

1l. A vehicle-top comprising a single supporting-bow, a rigidcover-frametiltably supported intermediate of its ends by the oppositesides of the bow, below the cross-bar at the top of said bow, wherebysaid bow serves as a stretcher for the cover when applied, means forsecuring the cove'r in its adj usted positions, anda stop device forlimiting the tilting movement of the cover-frame.

12. The combination with asupporting-bow and a seat-iron, one of saidelements being provided with an open-ended slot, of a bolt passingthrough said elements and received within said slot, a clamping memberscrewed upon the bolt to draw the bow and seat-iron into close relation,the detachment of the bow and iron being effected by the withdrawal ofthe bolt through the open-ended slot, and a cover-frame mounted on thesupportingbow. i

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto atxed mysignature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES H. SPRAGUE.

Witnesses:

J. S. WHITE, JOHN A. STRUTTON.

